Pooping a brick (and another, and another, and another)

(Picture courtesy of nydailynews.com)

How do I begin a post about LeBron James a day after one of the biggest stinkers in playoff history? How do I write about a guy who is rumored to have "interest" in the Chicago Bulls a day after his team went down 3-2 at home? How do I write about a guy that went 3-14 from the field for 15-points in the embarrassing 32-point loss of an important playoff series? How do I respect an MVP that flopped down on the bench, raised his hands in disgust, took himself out of the game by standing at the three point line, and played awful defense by letting Paul Pierce and Ray Allen waltz around the Q Center's floor like Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke. How does any NBA fan comprehend the giant "poop" (keeping this PG) he took on his coaches, his teammates, his fans, and the league itself?

I guess by asking questions like that and hoping that some of our readers can answer some of them for me.

With every logical question I could think of out of the way, I do want to begin on why LBJ played like a middle aged, fat business man who joined his offices basketball league only to cherry pick and turn the ball over. Are the whispers of the off season getting to loud for him? Is the weight of being Cleveland's god send, to much pressure? Is his elbow much, much worse than he is letting on? Does he finally realize that his team is not good enough, and that nobody on that team can carry him if he has a game or two like this? Is it his coach, who couldn't make the right sub-in move if Phil Jackson handed it to him himself? Is it a mixture of all of this (I guess I had more questions).

Probably. But no matter what the problem is, LBJ just spat on the image he was so careful of developing. He just went from the golden child of Ohio and convincing their fans that he is staying in Cleveland for the duration of his career, to hurling all over their laps with his bags in hand. People are emailing one of my favorite writers, Bill Simmons things such as,

"I'm watching basketball die in my city."

"God hates Cleveland"

"LeBron has his perfect excuse to leave the city and go join Jay-Z and the Yankees in New York like he has always wanted. We are all watching the death of professional sports in Cleveland."

Things are unstable to say the least in the state of Ohio.

Then on top of it these poor souls get the luxury of seeing an interview on ESPN this morning that turned the small dagger in their back into a giant butchers knife. In an interview with Hannah Storm, Chris Broussard said in regards to LeBron's future,

"People are talking about New York. They need to start talking Chicago, because Chicago has, at least, as good of a chance, I believe better, of getting LeBron than New York according to people I've talked to. You've got Derrick Rose, you've got Joakim Noah, you've got the great legacy Michael Jordan put there..."

Hannah Storm then goes on to give him three cities, New York, Cleveland, and Chicago, and asks Broussard where does LeBron James go next year. Broussard said,

"My gut says Chicago. Sorry New York!"

And all of Cleveland marches up the Terminal Tower in their LeBron James jerseys and jump to their deaths.

Even with news as great as this, and Chris Broussard backing up statements I've made since LBJ decided the number 23 should be retired by all NBA teams, I'm still shocked. Shocked with his performance, shocked with this news about Chicago, shocked that LeBron folded under pressure faster than Hank Baskett did in the Super Bowl.

What does this all mean for the world's greatest player? Is he always going to be a Patrick Ewing type of player (a guy that will never hoist a trophy over his head)? Is he Chicago's savior, and Cleveland's anti-Christ? Is he still the player you want with the ball under pressure? Do you question his motives, behavior, and overall game at all now?

I kind of do.

It's probably not fair to LBJ, but I (along with a million others) will always compare him to Jordan. Jordan is and always will be the greatest player that I ever saw play. The thing that made him so special is that Jordan wouldn't always come into games with a full arsenal of weapons, but you could guarantee he would walk off that court without anything left in the barrel. You wouldn't see Jordan standing at the three point line while Steve Kerr and Jud Buechler go 3-86 (like Mo Williams and Boobie Williams did last night). Jordan wouldn't look to his elbow, ankles, knees, hands, or stomach after he missed a shot that had zero legs under it. Jordan wouldn't let a playoff game five, at home, slip out of his finger tips without stepping up to the challenge.

LeBron seemed to do all of that last night and that worries me. It should worry every NBA fan that cares about the league and its future. It's now year seven for 'Bron and he still has not taken that "playoff leap" as other NBA greats have and that will always define the legacy he pretends to not care about. Sure he is still young, and his legacy has barely begun, but he might want to start being the player we have all deemed him sooner rather than later.